SUBIC BAY FREEPORT — The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) registered a seven-year high investment figure in 2018, as more investors expanded operations or set up their businesses in Subic.

SBMA chairman and administrator Wilma Eisma said Wednesday the agency’s committed investments reached P29.6 billion last year, up by a whopping 1,066 percent from P2.5 billion in 2017.

Eisma said the SBMA also posted record-breaking outputs in the 26-year history of the agency, with revenue at P3.45 billion and net income at P1.45 billion, the first time it breached the P1 billion mark.

She noted the growth in expansion projects in Subic, which exponentially jumped from P926.6 million in 2017 to P24.98 billion last year, was the more telling sign of investor confidence in Subic.

“This means that (investors) who are already here in Subic remain to be committed, and trust that good things will happen again this year,” she said.

Eisma noted that new investment projects rose to P4.61 billion last year from P1.45 billion in 2017.

The biggest fresh infusions last year were for a five-star hotel, industrial parks, warehouses, and a golf course and retirement community, she added.

As a portent of continuing favorable business climate in the Subic Bay Freeport, the SBMA also drew a strong import and export performance in 2018, signifying Subic’s progressive role as an engine of growth.

Subic made another record-breaking performance in port operations when it handled 212,103 20-foot equivalent units and 7,052 metric tons of bulk and non-containerized cargo in 2018.

With the continuous growth in Subic, SBMA’s contributions to the national treasury in the form of tax collections, customs duties, and government dividends also went up by 27 percent from P19.9 billion in 2017 to P25.3 billion last year, she added.